Monday, August 11, 2014

It all started when Tim took a promotion from FF/Paramedic to Instructor for the Fire Division. It was nice in that it meant he was home every weekend, BUT it also meant commuting 1.5 hours, twice a day, five days a week....that part, not so nice.

BUT - due to these long commutes, he found the world of podcasts and audiobooks, and introduced them to me! One segment I've listened to over and over has been Chalene Johnson's CarSmart talks. Volume 1 of said program is all about developing confidence. It is definitely worth the $9.99 on Itunes - it's full of great, insightful tips and information. I was most intrigued by the concepts that confidence is a habit and a discipline....and I would have to agree. I would also add that confidence is a journey...what I thought was self-confidence when I was 20 is WAY different than what my self-confidence is now....and it took time to get from one point to the other.

I can recognize that some people have a more natural, innate habit of confidence, but for a lot of us, confidence is something that has to be worked toward and built upon. Positive affirmations, keeping an optimistic outlook, exercising, stopping comparisons - all proven ways to build confidence. For me, the biggest confidence builder has been doing scary stuff. It never fails, when I try something I've never done before or I do something that isn't my strong suit and/or scares me, I come out on the other side 10x more confident!